Borrell vows EU’s ‘full support’ for Ukraine on frontline visit

KIEV: EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell vowed the bloc’s full support for Ukraine on Wednesday as he visited amid fears Moscow plans to invade and ahead of US-Russia talks on the crisis.

The visit comes as the West tries to deter Moscow from launching an attack on its ex-Soviet neighbour, which has battled pro-Kremlin separatists in two eastern regions bordering Russia since 2014.

"We are here first to reaffirm European Union’s full support to Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity," Borrell told a press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

"Any military aggression against Ukraine will have messy consequences and severe costs," he said in the village of Stanytsya Luganska in the Lugansk region. "And we are coordinating with the US, with Nato and other like-minded partners in order to work for de-escalation."

Kuleba said Ukraine and the European Union had a common goal, "to de-escalate the situation through diplomatic means so Moscow reduces tensions and abandons its aggressive intentions". Borrell’s visit was the first by an EU foreign policy chief to eastern Ukraine since war broke out nearly eight years ago. Borrell said the timing was right because "the geopolitical landscape is changing very quickly and the conflict on the borders of Ukraine is on the verge of getting deeper."